Rocketman - Part 3

As I've posted before (here and here), there is a excellent website called ROKetship, where a cartoonist named Luke Martin draws up a single pane comic about living and teaching in South Korea. He does some great work, and I figure I'll post some with some explanations of these hilarious observations:

It is not uncommon to see the elderly (the poor elderly) gathering up cardboard or wood from dumpsters or picking through the trash. I see this every morning on my way to work. The materials are recycled and traded in for cash - similar to how some states have bottle and can redemption programs back in the States. It's sad that a lot of the elderly have no pensions or retirement accounts, as they grew up in a time where the country was destroyed and have little more than an elementary school education. They work very hard and scrimp and save - I give these men and women a lot of respect.

Korean are relatively conservative in nature coming from a Confucian background, and more recently embracing a very strong Christian background. It is considered uncouth for a woman to show cleavage. There is even a term that means a woman looks like a "milking cow" if she shows too much chest. Western women, tend to show more however, and Koreans may view it as being inappropriate. Korean women do show a lot of leg though, and it is considered very sexy to show off their long legs - however, in my opinion some show off too much, that in the US it would be considered looking "slutty" or inappropriate. I love this panel for pointing it out! (note: The Korean girl is saying "ya-ha-da" which means "too sexy" or "loud!"

Many students learn English simply by memorizing phrases. Many of my students ramble off simply what they know even if it makes no sense. I've had some adults do it to me as well, and I try not to laugh as they say "Hi-where-are-you-from-nice-to-meet-you-I-am-happy-to-meet-you-are-you-from-America-I-am-from-Korea-have-a-nice-day." 

One of the things that annoys me the most is the rules of walking on the streets. It seems there is no respect for the standard system of walking the same directions as in which you drive. Old ladies (adjumma's) are particularly bad when it comes to this because they are usually "pushy" by Western standards, and get to where they want to go by any means necessary! I can't explain how many times I've been cut off by some old woman strolling along, only to stop right in front of me as I almost slam into her because she's not paying any attention to others around her. 

Customer service is a high priority for Korean businesses. In this highly competitive country with franchises on every corner, building customer relations is key if you want to keep your customers happy and returning. One bad experience will trickle down the grapevine and make your company look bad. I love the customer service to a certain degree. On one hand, the salespeople can be very pushy to make the sale - and even lie to you or exaggerate their products. Other times, it is great to get a nicely packaged or gift wrapped item with extra small bonus gifts thrown in - usually free of charge. When it gets ridiculous is when you go to the big department stores and you have 3 people welcoming you to the store, 2 people directing traffic in dancing style, and one lady taking a parking ticket out of the automatic ticket machine for you. That's too much. In the cartoon, the Westerner is only buying something small but getting a huge gift basket from Skin Food as a thank you for shopping there)

 

My co-teachers usually do not say or do much in my classes anymore, as I've gotten my classroom rules pretty much down with my students and they understand my consequences. Yet, there are times when I am having a rough class and all my tiny co-teachers need to do is yell a few words and maybe threaten to hit someone and the students go silent and apologize to me. 

Now that is power!

"The Right Stuff"

Here are 5 small things in Korea that I believe the US could learn from:

Restaurant Services: 

Your food is worth what the owners believe is fair, and in a Confucius society, that goes a long way to lowering your dining expenses. There are no waiters hovering over you asking you if things are alright or sucking up to you for better tips. They simply bring your food quickly and make sure everything is going properly (ie, making sure burners are working, cutting the samgyeopsal with scissors, bringing your side dishes). If you need more water, or want anything at all - just yell out (여기 - yeogi, or yeogiyo which means "here!") or simply raise your hand. Also, you do not tip at restaurants. Don't even try - they'll give it back to you. It's a great thing because not only do you end up paying less when the bill comes around, there is also no haggling over how much to add depending on level of service.

Parental Involvement in Education:

South Korea spends a lot of money on education and the people spend a lot of their own money to have their kids educated to the best of their abilities. The universities are hard to get into and the testing is very competitive. So parents push their kids to do their best - or better. There is very little play time for the kids in higher income households. They start school to learn English in pre-K, and are going to hagwons when they are about 5 to learn English, as well as other Korean subjects. The children go to school on the weekends as well - except Sunday, (at least in my school, as well as have every other Saturday off). But even with that down time, the kids are expected to either be home studying, in some sort of hagwon, and if they're lucky - they can go to a PC-bang or hang out with friends.

Self-Sufficiency:

I've noticed that a lot of things in Korea are made in Korea. There is a great sense of pride in the country over all things Korean, which might help explain that. One thing I've grown to like, is that even though the big conglomerates (Daewoo, LG, Samsung, Lotte) own and make everything, there is a lot of small businesses that everyone seems to use. In the US, everyone goes to the bigger stores because everything is cheaper there, and the smaller stores are left to the restaurant industry, and specific trades. There are large stores like Cost-co, E-Mart, but you can find the same things - sometimes even cheaper at local stores. Especially produce, as there are people selling them on the streets all over the place. With these conglomerates comes self-sufficiency. It seems that everyone buys Korean. Of course there are imports, but I feel that most of the necessities in their lives are home produced. From utilities to their food, things are Korean produced, which makes everything also less expensive. But if you do want to buy foreign, you will sure pay for it!

The Elderly:

Older people are viewed with more respect, and kidness here. I can see why. I have never seen so many active people in their 70's and 80's. Their health is much better than back home, they sit in parks, walk the cities, even exercise in the outdoor public gym areas. I've seen many elderly people selling food on the streets, and working in kitchens. One of the most surprising things, is you'll see them gardening and weeding public places, picking up garbage, and moving trash. I don't know if this is necessarily their job either. Someone told me they think volunteer for this to keep their city beautiful.

Public and Social Services:

From what I can tell there is very few homeless people here - maybe they are just better at blending in. I've only seen a handful and they simply with bow in the middle of a street on their hands and knees with a box open for spare money. Having shelter is relatively easy to find. Besides homeless shelters, many businesses are open very late, and the amazing public transportation system runs late, giving many people a warms spot to curl up for a night. Also on the subway, blind people may walk through the trains playing music and asking for money, but they are not pushy about it and just walk right through. The hospitals are wonderful and you are taken care of quickly, the public walkways are extremely clean and maintained. Garbage recycling is huge, and everyone plays their part. Police are rarely seen dealing with any fights, thefts, assaults - I only see them dealing with traffic issues. Guns are illegal, drugs seem to be rarely used (more by us foreigners and the US Military), and therefore crime is extremely low. In a city of about 500,000 people - that is just amazing to me.

Everything seems to stem from living your life in a respectful way. Respecting your elders, laws, authority, and your country and yourself. It's a wonderful thing to be a part of. In a crowded city, if this didn't happen it would be unpleasant. I believe that the Korean people realize this, and basically follow the golden rule. I can only hope that one day the people back at home would realize this.